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November 20, 2005
Chapter 11 Hypothesis
In my opinion it takes the least amount of time for the pronunciation of words to change, a little bit longer for the lexicon to change, and the longest for syntax to change. I think that the amount of time it takes for each of these things to change is based on whether or not they exist as rules. In forming words we never learn a set of rules(where to put our tongues, whether a vowel should be long or short, etc), but rather we just naturally pick up on how words should sound. This flexibility with which people learn words allows there to be a lot of variation, and as a result different pronunciations form. The same idea goes for words. There are no rules as to what can be a word and what can't be a word (it's not like certain letters cannot follow others), therefore there is always room for variation, and that's why new words are created and put into use. However, syntax is more structured. There are rules as to what order words must be put in a sentence, and we usually don't understand why things must go in this order, but we just accept it as the only way to do things. Therefore there is no room for variation...we learn the rule and stick to it.
These timing correlates to the acquisition of language in babies in that the things that take less time to change, take less time to be learned. For example, pronunciation of words, which can change the quickest, is always learnt the quickest by babies. Usually babies, once they learn a word, learn the phonetics of that word and don't mess up saying it. Although babies have limitted lexicons, the words that they do know they usually are able to use in the right context (for example a child usually doesn't say "I see a dog" when they mean "I see a car"). It is the forming of sentences, syntax, that children usually have the most difficult time learning. Often times they use all of the correct words and pronounce those words correctly, but they do not string them together in a way that forms a coherent sentence.
Posted by lcissullivan at November 20, 2005 11:32 PM